BT UNITES HOME NATIONS WITH 4-3-3 STRATEGY

4
NATIONS. BT to unite the Home Nations in one of the largest ever
footballing programmes to run across the UK in partnership with The FA,
Scottish FA, Irish FA and FA of Wales

3
COMMUNITIES. As part of new brand strategy, Beyond Limits, BT to help
release the potential of disability and para, grassroots, and women’s football
communities

3
GOALS for BT to:

Develop
new innovation and technology to enable new ways to play and engage with
football

Create
closer football communities and opportunities through new digital and football
skills initiatives

Inspire
a new generation of girls and women to participate in football, on and off the
pitch

4 February, 2020
– BT has today unveiled its 4-3-3 football
partnership strategy to use technology, innovation and digital skills in
footballing communities across the UK to help change the lives of millions of
players, coaches and fans.

In partnership with each of the four Home Nation Football
Associations, BT will help break down barriers to playing or supporting the
beautiful game by creating a para and disability innovation hub; launching The
FA Playmaker, an official FA entry-level online course; and boosting support for
men’s, women’s, para and disability football from grassroots to elite levels.

BT’s commitment will launch a number of initiatives and
projects over the five-year agreement with each of The FA, Scottish FA, Irish
FA and FA of Wales to deliver against specific goals and commitments for their
communities.

Rio Ferdinand at the BT Home Nations launch

BT & DISABILITY FOOTBALL: Inspiring the next generation of disability playersBT will combine the power of its technology,
innovation and partnerships and aim to increase national support for Home
Nations teams.

Project Swift: A
first of its kind research programme to enable those who currently can’t play,
to play.

Millions of people are fortunate enough to grow
up playing football and dreaming of playing for their country, but for some
disability groups there isn’t a form of the game they can play.

Working with leading tech innovation hub,
Plexal, within the Here East supercampus, as well as Disability Rights UK and
other experts from the accessibility and sport communities, BT will design and
develop a new format of disability football for those who can’t play with their
bodies, but could potentially play with their minds.

Through this ambitious research project, BT’s
aim is to introduce new technology concepts into the game, helping those
currently excluded from competitive sport to play, with the ultimate ambition of enabling the
very best to potentially play one day for their country.

Content & programming: Raising
the profile of Para and disability football

BT to invest in the creation of inspiring para
documentaries and films for BT Sport.
The first documentary has been commissioned and will focus on blind
football.

This year BT Sport will broadcast the Disability
Cup, the first time is had been broadcast live, providing disability football
with a live TV broadcast platform.

CONNECTING GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL CLUBS: Break down barriers to improve digital, education and footballing skills in
communities across the UK, creating a network of hundreds of grassroots
football clubs across the Home Nations.

Marc Allera, CEO of BT, speaks at the BT Home Nations launch

The FA Playmaker Partnership:

BT
will be the official partner of The FA’s revolutionary new digital entry-level
football course – The FA Playmaker – which launches this Spring.

The
FA Playmaker will be free to sign up and available to anyone over 14 interested
in taking a more active volunteer role in grassroots football, with a focus on
encouraging a more diverse representation of people into football coaching.

The
aim will be to create 100,000 FA Playmakers by 2024 and equip them with the
skills, knowledge and confidence to support licenced coaches make safe, fun and
inclusive football happen in our grassroots game.

The
course is made up of five online modules and will take approximately four and a
half hours to complete, with learners having the options afterwards to become
FA licensed by taking their FA Safeguarding Children Workshop (FA SCW), FA
Introduction to First Aid in Football (FA IFAiF), and their DBS.

The
FA Playmaker licence will qualify participants for leading roles in grassroots
football and within FA participation initiatives – such as Wildcats, Just Play
and FA affiliated football.

BT
to offer incentive scheme to encourage thousands of FA Playmakers from
under-represented communities to achieve their full licence by removing the
cost of the additional safeguarding and first aid courses required for supervising under 18s.

More than 200 grassroots football clubs across the home nations will be
given a package of BT services and become part of the rollout of the new
digital skills programme BT Skills for Tomorrow to turn football clubhouses
into hubs for their community, helping to create the best-connected grassroots
football community in the world.

The new BT Skills for Tomorrow programme will be
rolled out across the UK, starting in March at the National Stadium in Belfast where
50 18-24 years olds will
celebrate completing a Work Ready programme, designed to help them develop
employability and digital skills.

Community football clubs will become hubs to
give those at the club, in the local community and in small businesses the
digital skills and confidence they need.

These
initiatives will support BT’s wider ambition by 2025 to empower 10 million
people by giving them the skills they need for the digital world.

BOOSTING THE WOMEN’S GAME: BT will use its digital innovation and
broadcasting expertise to inspire a new generation of girls and women to
participate in football, on and off the pitch.

Football Mum to Football Manager:

BT will bring 50,000 new women directly into the
grassroots eco-system via the FA Playmaker online course as well as offering
bursaries and mentoring schemes for women wanting to progress in football
coaching.

Broadcast opportunities:

Through BT Sport’s industry leading expertise,
BT will provide an opportunity for girls and women to follow their ambitions
for a career in sports broadcasting.

BT Sport will increase its work with female
students to offer broadcast training and presenting opportunities to create
programming around women’s football.

BT will create more TV and online content celebrating
and showcasing women in football to help inspire and educate on the
opportunities available on or off the pitch.

Marc Allera, CEO of BT’s
Consumer division, said: “Football, like BT, is part of the fabric of
our nations and we believe that combining football with the power of our
technology, innovation and people will benefit society and the lives of millions
of people across the UK over the next five years. We’re using these
partnerships to break down barriers and create a meaningful legacy across
grassroots, para and women’s football in the UK.”

“This is the start of a very
exciting journey that goes far beyond traditional sponsorships and we’re
looking forward to successful partnerships, on and off the pitch, with all the
Home Nations over the coming years.”

Mark Bullingham, CEO of The
FA, commented: “BT is using the partnership to have a transformative
impact on people throughout the country. They have identified three important
areas for growth and we are looking forward to BT bringing their digital
expertise and innovative thinking to achieve these goals”

Ian Maxwell, CEO of The Scottish FA, added: “BT
have some ambitious plans to combine football and technology to engage
communities across the nation. Their goals for grassroots, girls’ and women’s
and para-football dovetail perfectly with our own and we are excited at the
opportunities our partnership with them holds for Scottish football.”

Jonathan Ford, CEO FA of Wales, added: “Football
has the power to transform communities and it’s fantastic that this partnership
will enable grassroots, women’s and para football clubs across Wales to benefit
from the expertise and services that BT have to offer.”

Irish FA Chief Executive Patrick Nelson
said: “It is great that BT, as title
sponsor of our men’s teams and our development and disability teams, is using
its wealth of knowledge and expertise to help the football community in this
way.
“BT’s 4-3-3 strategy, with its focus on introducing new technology, innovation
and enhancing digital skills, is a positive and very welcome initiative.
“This strategy will undoubtedly be of immense benefit as we strive to promote,
foster and develop football for all in Northern Ireland.”

Kamran Mallick, CEO, Disability Rights UK said “Sport
is a way of bringing people together, an enabler for increased wellbeing,
motivation and enjoyment. For many disabled people the barriers we experience
limit or exclude us from taking part in sport. We are excited to be partnering
with BT to see how technology can remove these barriers and help us to find
ways to participate in sport with our peers and communities, and to be active
in a way that works for us.”